Toy phonograph

ABSTRACT

A TOY PHONOGRAPH CAPABLE OF ACHIEVING A CONSTANT ROTARY SPEED FOR A DISK RECORD. THE RECORD IS CARRIED BY A TURNTABLE WHICH IS DRIVEN BY A SPRING WHICH IS MANUALLY ACTUATED TO HAVE A DRIVING FORCE STORED THEREIN. A PICK-UP HAS A STYLUS PRESSING AGAINST THE DISK RECORD, AND THE PRESSURE WITH WHICH THE STYLUS PRESSES AGAINST THE RECORD GRADUALLY DIMINISHES AS THE STYLUS APPROACHES THE CENTRAL REGION OF THE RECORD. THE DRIVING SPRING GRADUALLY RUNS DOWN ALSO AS THE STYLUS APPROACHES THE CENTRAL REGION OF THE RECORD, SO THAT IN THIS WAY THE DROP IN THE PRESSURE OF THE STYLUS ON THE RECORD COMPENSATES FOR THE RUNNING DOWN OF THE SPRING TO CONTRIBUTE TOWARD THE MAINTENANCE OF A SUBSTANTIALLY CONSTANT ROTARY SPEED FOR THE RECORD.

June 6, 1972 KATSUMI WATANABE 3,667,765

TOY PHONOGRAPH Filed Jan. 29' 1970 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 KATSUMI WATAHABEUnited States Patent 3,667,765 TOY PHONOGRAPH Katsumi Watanabe, 376Ozenji, Kawasaki-shi, Japan Continuation-impart of application Ser. No.748,283, July 29, 1968. This application Jan. 29, 1970, Ser. No. 6,761

Int. Cl. Gllb 25/04, 17/06 U.S. Cl. 274-14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A toy phonograph capable of achieving a constant rotary speedfor a disk record. The record is carried by a turntable which is drivenby a spring which is manually actuated to have a driving force storedtherein, A pick-up has a stylus pressing against the disk record, andthe pressure with which the stylus presses against the record graduallydiminishes as the stylus approaches the central region of the record.The driving spring gradually runs down also as the stylus approaches thecentral region of the record, so that in this way the drop in thepressure of the stylus on the record compensates for the running down ofthe spring to contribute toward the maintenance of a substantiallyconstant rotary speed for the record.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is acontinuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 748,283, filedJuly 29, 1968 and entitled Toy Gramophone.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to toyphonographs.

In the construction of toy phonographs it is essential to useinexpensive components, and this requirement leads to certain problems.Thus, for example, because of the essential low costs which must bemaintained it is not possible to provide a toy phonograph driven by anelectric motor at a fairly constant speed. Instead it is essential torely on devices such as driving springs which necessarily run down,giving rise to the problem of a variable driving force. One of the primefactors determining the performance of a phonograph is the degree towhich the rotary speed of the record is maintained constant. Thus, whendealing with an inexpensive toy phonograph driven by a spring, themaintenance of a constant rotary speed for the record creates a seriousproblem. Although it has already been proposed to use, for example,governors to bring about a constant rotary speed for the record, theseexpedients have not proved to be entirely successful in practice andprovide only a partial solution to the problem.

The factor of the speed of rotation is, however, only one of severalimportant factors to be considered in the manufacture of a toyphonograph. Thus, it is essential to make a toy of this type exceedinglysimple to operate since it will be operated for the most part by youngchildren, and of course it goes without saying that the constructionmust be exceedingly rugged. All of these requirements are exceedinglydilficult to fulfill within the framework of a low-cost device whichabove all must have a construction and operation adhering to the highestdegree of safety so that no possible injury can occur to the operator.

3,667,765 Patented June 6, 1972 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It isaccordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide a toyphonograph which will fulfill the above requirements and advance thestate of the art beyond what has been possible to accomplish heretofore.

In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a toyphonograph which will be capable of maintaining the rotary speed of adisk record at a value the constancy of which is far beyond what can beaccomplished with conventional toy phonographs.

In addition, it is an object of the invention to provide a device ofthis type which can be enclosed within a simple housing having no sharppoints or other possible sources of injury so that the entire structureis one which is exceedingly safe to operate even by the smallestchildren.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a constructionof this type which can be operated in the most simple manner which isabsolutely foolproof so that for this purpose also completelysatisfactory operations can be provided by extremely young children.

The objects of the present invention furthermore include the provisionof a construction which is small, lightweight, capable of operation withthe exertion of a relatively small force, and extremely inexpensive tomanufacture and sell, without sacrificing any of the desirable qualitiessuch as a highly superior degree of sound reproduction and full safetyand ease of operation.

According to the invention the toy phonograph includes a rotaryturntable means for carrying a disk record which stores the sound whichis to be reproduced. A pick-up means has a stylus for engaging the diskrecord and for progressing from a peripheral region toward a centralregion thereof during rotary movement of the record with the turntablemeans, for the purpose of picking up the sound from the disk record. Adriving spring means is operatively connected with the rotary turntablemeans to drive the latter for rotating a disk record carried therebywith respect to the stylus, and during the movement of the stylus towardthe central region of the record the driving spring means gradually runsdown. According to the invention a pressure means coacts with thepick-up means for urging the stylus thereof toward the record with aforce which gradually diminishes as the stylus progresses toward thecentral region of the record. As a result of this gradual reduction inthe force with which the stylus is urged toward the recordsimultaneously with the approach of the stylus toward the central regionof the record, the running down of the driving spring means iscompensated by this gradual reduction in pressure so that it becomespossible to contribute in this way toward the maintenance of a constancyin the speed of rotation of the record which heretofore could not beachieved with relatively inexpensive toy phonographs of this generaltype.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention is illustrated by way ofexample in the accompanying drawings which form part of this applicationand in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a toy phonograph of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the toy phonograph ofFIG. 1 taken along line 22 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 3 is plan view of the structure taken along line 33 of FIG. 2 inthe direction of the arrows and showing the structure as it appearswithout the outer covering wall thereof;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary partly sectional plan view taken along line 4-4of FIG. 2 in the direction of the arrows and showing the details of apressure means of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a partly fragmentary and partly sectional plan view takenalong line 55 of FIG. 2 in the direction of the arrows and showing thedetails of the structure at the area where the pick-up means is located;

FIG. 6 is a partly sectional plan view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 2 inthe direction of the arrows and showing the turntable and governorstructure as well as the structure for storing a driving force in thedriving spring; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional plan view taken along line 77 of FIG. 2 in thedirection of the arrows and showing the driving spring means as well asfurther details of the governor.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawing, the toyphonograph 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes an outer housing 12composed of an upper part 14 visible in FIG. 1 and a lower part 16visible in FIG. 2. These housing components 14 and 16 are releasablyfixed to each other in any suitable way such as by screws 18 visible inFIG. 1. The housing components 14 and 16 form part of the support meansof structure of the invention and may be made of any suitable plasticwhich is substantially rigid. Thus, polyvinylchloride, polystyrene, andthe like are but a few of the suitable plastics which may be used. Theupper housing component 14 has a wall formed with a series of openings20 passing therethrough and arranged in the pattern illustrated in FIG.1 so that the reproduced sound may freely emanate through these openingsto the exterior.

In addition to the releasable fasteners 18, the right lower end portionof the upper housing component 14, as viewed in FIG. 2, has a tongue 22received in an opening or loop 24 integral with the lower housingcomponent 16. Thus, in order to assemble the components 14 and 16 it isonly necessary to remove and replace the screws 18, the tongue 22 beingreadily inserted into and removed from the opening defined by the loopor U-shaped strap 24 which projects upwardly from the top edge of theremainder of the lower housing component 16 at the upper right portionthereof, as viewed in FIG. 2.

The lower housing component 16 has a bottom wall 26 which forms theequivalent of a base on which the entire structure is mounted. A pin 28of circular cross-section is integrally formed with and projectsupwardly from the wall 26, as shown most clearly in FIG. 2. This pin 28is freely received within an elongated sleeve 30 having an upper portionformed with axially extending splines and integrally carrying at itslower portion a horizontal disk 32 which is situated in a plane normalto the sleeve 30 and which forms a circular flange surrounding thelatter. Beneath the disk 32 is situated a driving spring means 34 in theform of a spiral spring fixed in any suitable way at its inner end tothe sleeve 30 beneath the disk 32 and at its outer end to a side wallportion of the lower housing component 16. Thus, as may be seen fromFIG. 7, the outer convolution of the spiral driving spring means 34 islooped through a cross rib 36 situated in an opening in a side wall ofthe housing part 16, so that in this way the driving spring means isoperatively connected to the sleeve 30.

Above the flange 32, which may be made of the same plastic as thehousing 12, for example, and which is integrally formed with the sleeve30, is a rotary turntable means which engages flange 32 and is in theform of a disk of circular configuration formed with a central borepassing therethrough and having a grooved periphery so that theturntable 38 can also function as a pulley for an elastic endless bandor belt 40. The rotary turntable means 38 fixedly and permanentlycarries at its upper surface, as viewed in FIG. 2, a disk record 42having any desired recording impressed into its upper surface in amanner well known for conventional disk records. Thus, in theillustrated example the record 42 is permanently mounted on theturntable means 38 and will always rotate therewith. It is possible, forexample, to bond the plastic of the record 42 directly to the topsurface of the turntable means 38 which may be made, for example, ofaluminum.

A one-way drive means is provided between the sleeve 30 and the rotaryturntable means 38. This one-way drive means in the illustrated exampletakes the form of a coil spring 44 situated in the relatively narrow gapbetween the sleeve 30 and the inner periphery of the rotary turntablemeans 38. The spring 44 has a lower end 46 extending radially from itscoils and permanently fixed with the lower surface of the rotaryturntable means 38. The top end of the coil spring 44, as viewed in FIG.2, is simply free, and the coil spring frictionally engages the sleeve30. With this known one-way drive when the sleeve 30 rotates in adirection tending to reduce the diameter of the convolutions of thespring 44, the spring 44 tightly grips the sleeve 30 and transmitsrotation therefrom to the turntable 38 which is permanently connectedwith the end 46 of the spring 44. However, when the sleeve 30 rotates ina direction which tends to unwind the convolutions from the sleeve 30,these convolutions of the spring 44 become loose and permit a freeturning of the sleeve 30.

A manually operable means is provided for storing a driving force in thedriving spring means 34. This manually operable means includes a pulley48 having inner peripheral teeth received between the splines extendingaxially along the upper portion of the sleeve 30. This mounting of thepulley 48 on the splined top end of the sleeve 30 is clearly apparent inFIG. 6. Thus, the pulley 48 of the manually operable means isconstrained to rotate with the sleeve 30. The peripheral groove of thepulley 48 has one end of a string 50 fixed therein, and this string iswound around the pulley several times and extends therefrom to theexterior of the housing 12 in a manner described in greater detailbelow. This string 50 terminates at the exterior of the housing 12 in aloop 52 which may be readily grasped by any child or other op erator ofthe toy phonograph. Upon pulling the loop 52, the string 50 becomes tautand unwinds from the pulley 48 while rotating the latter in acounterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 6. In this direction ofrotation of the sleeve 30 it tends to unwind or loosen the convolutionsof the one-way drive spring 44, so that the sleeve 30 now turns freelywithin the coils of the spring 44. It is this direction of rotationwhich tightens the convolutions of the driving spring means 34 so as tostore a driving force therein. The operator may pull the string 50 outbeyond the housing 12 to any desired extent up to the limit provided bythe total length of the string 50 where its inner end remains fixed withthe pulley 48. Irrespective of how far the string 50 is pulled,immediately upon release of the string 50 the driving spring means 34expands and rotates the sleeve 30 in a direction opposite to itsdirection of rotation upon pulling of the string 50 by the operator. Theresult is that now the sleeve 30 is rotated in a clockwise direction, asviewed in FIGS. 6 and 7 thus tending to tighten the convolutions of thespring 44 on the sleeve, so that now the one-way drive means iseffective to transmit the rotation of the driving spring means 34 to theturntable means 38 through the sleeve 30. This drive of the rotaryturntable 38 in a clockwise direction as indicated by the arrow 54 inFIG. 6 continues until the spring 34 runs down to such an extent that itcan no longer rotate the turntable means 38.

The sound which is stored in the disk record 42 is picked up by apick-up means 56 (FIG. which includes a tone arm in the form of a lever58 supported for swinging movement on a pin 60 which is fixed to andprojects upwardly from a partition 62 supported between the upper andlower walls of the housing 12 and forming therewith the support means ofthe structure of the invention. This partition 62 has along its sideedges tongues 64 situated within notches at the upper edge of the sidewalls of the lower housing component 16 so that in this way thepartition 62 is properly situated. The pin 60 may be formed integrallywith the partition 62, and both of these components can be made of anysuitable plastic which may be the same as that which is used for thehousing 12. The partition 62 has a raised portion 66 formed with acentral opening 68 which receives the top end of the 28.

The tone arm or lever 58 of the pick-up means 56 is urged in acounterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 5 by a wire spring 70extending at one end region through an opening formed in a rib 72 fixedto and projecting upwardly from the arm 58 and formed integrallytherewith of a suitable plastic such as any of those referred to above.The spring 70 which forms a return means for returning the pick-up means56 to a starting position extends around the pivot 60 along the uppersurface of the lever 58 and then beneath a lateral projection of astationary pin 74 to a further pin 76 to which the spring 70 is fastenedat its right end, as viewed in FIG. 5. These elements 74 and 76 are alsoformed integrally with the partition 62. This partition 62 furthercarries an integral pin 78 against which the pick-up means 56 is urgedby the spring 70-. Thus, the lever 58 is urged against the pin 78 by thespring 70 so that it is this pin 78 which determines the startingposition of the pick-up means 56 to which the pick-up means is returnedby the return means 70.

The partition 62 is formed with an opening 80 having the configurationmost clearly apparent in FIG. 5 and through this opening it can be seenthat the free end of lever 58 distant from pivot 60 is situated at theperipheral region of the record 42 when the pick-up means 56 is in itsstarting position illustrated in FIG. 5. At its free end the tone arm 58fixedly carries a stylus 82 in the form of a pointed metal body havingits tip received in the recording groove which is impressed on therecord 42. As the record 42 is rotated with the turntable means 38 bythe driving spring 34 the stylus 82 will progress toward the centralregion of the record from the peripheral region thereof.

A pressure means 84 of the invention includes a pressure lever 86, theconfiguration of which is most clearly apparent from FIG. 4. Thispressure lever 86 has the cranked configuration shown in FIG. 4.

The partition 62 is formed at its left region, as viewed in FIG. 3, witha pair of integral blocks 88 projecting upwardly, as viewed in FIG. 2and formed at their top surfaces with notches 90 which extend down intothe bearing blocks 88. These blocks receive in their notches 90 the freeends 92 of the pressure lever 86 of the pressure means 84. These freeends 92 have a common axis and are supported for turning movement aboutthis common axis in the notches 90 of the blocks 88 so that in this waythe common axis of the ends 92 of the lever 86 form a fulcrum axis aboutwhich the pressure lever 86 can freely swing.

At its central region the pressure lever 86 has an enlargement 94provided with a fiat lower surface directed downwardly toward the tonearm 58 of the pick-up means 56, as viewed in FIG. 2. The arm 58 fixedlycarries at its upper surface a pimple or projection 96 provided with aconvexly curved exterior upwardly directed surface. This pimple 96directly engages the lower surface of the enlargement 94 of the lever86. During rotary movement of a record 42, while the stylus 82progresses toward the central region of the record the pimple 96 willdescribe along the lower surface of the enlargement 94 of lever 86 anarcuate path 98 indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 4, this path 98 ofcourse extending along a circle whose center is in the axis of the pivot60. During return movement of the pick-up means 56 to its startingposition by the return means 70 the pimple 96 will move toward the leftalong the path 98 while during playing of a record the pimple will movealong the path 98 toward the right, as viewed in FIG. 4.

The enlargement 94 further includes an extension 100 having theconfiguration of a hollow channel the interior of which is directedupwardly with this channel having an open left end, as viewed in FIG. 4.Through this open end of the channel 100 extends a pressure spring 102of the pressure means 84. This pressure spring 102 is simply anelongated tapered leaf spring the tapering free end of which is receivedin the channel 100 to press downwardly on the latter, as viewed in FIG.2. The left end of the spring 102, as viewed in FIG. 2, rests in anupwardly directed notch formed in a rigid fin 104 integral with andextending upwardly from the partition 62 at the left end thereof. Infront of the fin 104, the partition 62 has an integral part 106 formedwith a downwardly directed threaded bore receiving the bottom threadedend of an adjusting screw 108 which extends through an opening of theleaf spring 102. Thus, the screw 108 can be threaded into the boss 106of partition 62 in order to adjust the force with which the spring 102presses downwardly on the pressure lever 86. In this way the force withwhich the stylus 82 is urged toward the record 42 is adjusted.

It is to be noted that the pressure of the free tip of the pressurespring 102 on the channel 100 of lever 86 remains at a substantiallyconstant distance from the fulcrum axis which coincides with the axis ofthe ends 92 of the lever 86, so that the entire lever 86 is urged towardthe pick-up means 56 with a substantially constant moment the magnitudeof which is equal to the force at the free end of spring 102 multipliedby the distance thereof from the fulcrum axis. This moment is of courseequal to the moment determined by the distance of the pimple 95 from thefulcrum axis multiplied by the force transmitted through the pimple 96to the pick-up means from the pressure lever 86. This latter moment willof course remain equal to the moment derived from the spring 102, butsince the distance of the pimple 96 from the fulcrum axis continuouslyincreases as the stylus 82 progresses toward a central portion of therecord, the force with which the stylus 82 is urged toward the recordcontinuously diminishes at the same time. This is an important resultachieved by the invention. Because of this constant reduction in theforce of the stylus with respect to the record 42 there is an automaticcompensation for the lesser force derived from the driving spring means34 which is continuously running down as the force of the stylus againstthe record continuously diminishes.

The elastic belt 40 surrounds a knurled or otherwise roughened exteriorsurface of a sleeve 110 of a governor means 112 shown most clearly inFIGS. 6 and 7. The bottom wall of the lower housing component 16 alsofixedly carries an upwardly directed pin 114 received in the sleeve 110and supporting the latter for rotation. This sleeve integrally carries adisk 116 projecting radially from and forming a flange surrounding thesleeve 110, and the upper surface of the disk 116 carries a pair ofdiametrically opposed pins 118 on which governor weights 120 aresupported for free swinging movement. These weights 120 are provided attheir exterior surfaces with friction bodies 122 adapted to frictionallyride against the inner cylindrical surface 124 of a well 126 formedintegrally with the lower housing component 16 and extending in partbeneath the turntable 38. Thus, a governor means 112 is provided to alsocontribute toward the maintenance of a constant rotary speed for thedisk record. The combination of the governor means 112 with theabove-described pressure means for continuously diminishing the force ofthe stylus against the record as the driving spring means 34 runs downachieves a rotary speed for the record 42 the constancy of which is farbeyond anything which has heretofore been possible.

The enlargement 94 of the pressure lever 86 is formed at one side withan integral block 127 projecting therefrom and formed at its lowersurface with an upwardly directed notch through which the string 50extends. This string 50 then extends over the partition '62. and throughguide openings formed in the left walls of the housing components 14 and16 where these walls meet. A suitable metal eyelet may be provided atthis location to guide the string out to where the loop 52 thereof islocated. As a result when the string 50 is pulled taut it will exert anupward force through the block 127 onto the lever 86 through theenlargement 94 thereof, with the result that the entire pressure lever86 will be turned in opposition to the spring 102 through a distancesufiiciently great to interrupt the engagement between the lever 86 andthe pimple 96 of the arm 58. Thus, at this time the pick-up means 56 isreleased to the return means 70 which can now almost instantaneouslyreturn the arm 58 into engagement with the pin 78. The manner in whichthe spring 70 is connected to the arm 58 is such that the stylus israised slightly from the record as it is swung with the lever 58 to thestarting position shown in FIG. 5. Thus, the pulling on the string 50not only results in storing of a force in the driving spring means 34,in addition it brings about an interruption in the engagement betweenthe pressure means and the pick-up means releasing the latter to thereturn means which will return the pick-up means to its startingposition in preparation for the next record playing operation.

The pressure lever 86 also contributes to the transmission of sound fromthe record. Thus, the upper part of the enlargement 94 at its right end,as viewed in FIG. 4, is fixed with the central lowest region of aloudspeaker 130. This loudspeaker 130 tapers upwardly and has anupwardly directed concave surface. Thus, the hollow interior of theloudspeaker 130 is directed upwardly and faces the openings 20, asviewed in FIG. 2. The peripheral edge of the loudspeaker 130 isstiifened by an endless angle member 132 made of a suitable plastic andjoined to the periphery of the loudspeaker 130. The lowermost region ofthe loudspeaker 130 is bonded or fixed in any suitable way to the rightportion of the enlargement 94 as viewed in FIG. 4. Thus, the loudspeaker130 is simply carried directly on the pressure lever and it is made of arelatively thin plastic. Thus, during progress of the stylus '82 towardthe central region of the record 42 the vibratory movement of the styluswill be transmitted through the tone arm 58 and the pimple 6 to thelever 86 which will in turn transmit these vibrations to the loudspeaker130 providing an exceedingly faithful reproduction of the sound storedin the record 42.

It is thus apparent that the structure described above is simple,compact, inexpensive, completely safe, and very easy to operate.Furthermore, it is capable of achieving by way of the above-discussedfeatures, an exceedingly constant rotary speed for the disk recordproviding the most faithful sound reproduction.

What is claimed is:

11. In a toy phonograph, support means, rotary turntable means forsupporting a disk record for rotation, said turntable means beingsupported for rotary movement by said support means, pick-up meanshaving a stylus for engaging a disk record and supported by said supportmeans for moving of said stylus from a peripheral region toward acentral region of the disk record during rotation of a disk record withsaid turntable means, driving spring means carried by said support meansand operatively connected with said turntable means for rotating thelatter in order to rotate a disk record therewith and with respect tosaid stylus of said pick-up means, said driving spring means graduallyrunning down as the stylus progresses toward the central region of therecord, and pressure means carried by said support means for movementabout a predetermined axis and engaging said pick-up means for pressingsaid stylus toward a record on said turntable means with a force whichgradually diminishes as the stylus progresses toward the central regionof the record, to compensate for the running down of the driving springmeans and to contribute toward the maintenance of a substantiallyconstant rotation speed for the record, said pickup means and saidstylus thereof being situated between said axis of said pressure meansand the central region of the disk record and moving away from thelatter axis as said stylus approaches said central region.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a governor means is carried bysaid support means and also is operatively connected with said turntablemeans for contributing toward the maintenance of a constant speed ofrotation for a record carried thereby.

3. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a manually operable means isoperatively connected to said driving spring means for storing in thelatter a driving force preparatory to playing of a record on saidturntable means, and return means carried by said support means andoperatively connected with said pick-up means for returning the latterto a starting position locating said stylus at the peripheral region ofa disk record on said turntable means, said manually operable meanscoacting with said pressure means for eliminating the force urging thestylus toward the record during storing of a force in said drivingspring means by said manually operable means, so as to release thepick-up means to said return means to be returned thereby to saidstarting position during storing of a force in said driving springmeans.

4. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said pressure means includes apressure lever swingable about said axis which forms a fulcrum, saidpressure lever directly engaging said pick-up means, a pressure springforming part of said pressure means and urging said pressure leveraround said fulcrum axis in a direction transmitting to said pick-upmeans a force urging said stylus toward a disk record on said turntablemeans.

5. The combination of claim 4 and wherein a sound amplification means isdirectly carried by said pressure lever, said pressure lever vibratingtogether with said pickup means while directly pressing against the sameto transmit to the amplification means from the record sound which isstored in the latter to be amplified at the amplification means.

6. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said amplification meansincludes a loudsepaker operatively connected directly with said pressurelever.

7. The combination of claim 5 and wherein a manually operable means isoperatively connected with said driving spring means for storing adriving force therein, and return means operatively connected with saidpick-up means for returning the latter to a given starting positionWhere said stylus thereof is located at a peripheral region of a record,said manually operable means when actuated to store a force in saiddriving spring means automatically displacing said pressure lever awayfrom said pick-up means to release the latter to said return meanssimultaneously with the storing of the driving force in said drivingspring means.

8. The combination of claim 7 and wherein said manually operable meansincludes a rotary pulley operatively connected with said driving springmeans for storing a force therein and a string extending from saidpulley and accessible to the operator, said string extending along apath engaging said pressure lever for displacing the latter away fromsaid pick-up means in opposition to the force of said pressure springwhen said string is stretched during rotation of said pulley to store adriving force in said driving spring means, and a one-way transmissionmeans operatively connected between said driving spring means andturntable for transmitting rotation from said driving spring means tosaid turntable only when said string of said manually operable means isreleased to free said driving spring means for expansion while it drivessaid turntable means.

9. The combination of claim 8 and wherein a governor means isoperatively connected with said turntable means for contributing towardthe maintenance of a substantially constant speed of rotation for arecord.

10. The combination of claim 8 and wherein a loudspeaker is directlycarried by said pressure lever at an end region thereof, distant fromsaid fulcrum axis, said pressure lever transmitting vibratory movementof said pick-up means to said loudspeaker.

References Cited- UNITED STATES PATENTS LEONARD FORMAN, Primary ExaminerD. A. DEARING, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.'R. 274-1 A

